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King Ghidorah: Monster Zero - The Movie
King Ghidorah: Master of Monsters - The Motion Picture is the theatrical movie adaptation of the similarly-titled anime series. It is a retelling of the original Master of Monsters ''series, and as such, follows a different storyline. It holds several records in Japanese film history. Firstly, it is the longest anime film ever made, clocking in at 207 minutes. Secondly, it is the highest-grossing Japanese film (and by default, the highest-grossing anime and Godzilla film) ever made. Cast The film is split into three parts, all of which are introduced with a superimposed title card. '''Genesis of Evil' The film opens with two Gargoa and Xillen scientists operating in a sealed room in a advanced asteroid base, working on a project that is called "Monster Zero", a study into a giant, yellow, sphere. Unfortunately, a Kilaak invasion force raids their base, and the hastily eject the sphere in a pod. The massive sphere, having encased itself in a giant meteor, breaks free from the Venusian surface and propells itself towards Earth and crash-lands upon it. A few days pass, and Godzillasaurus, Mothra, Boylanguirus (pre-evolution form of Anguirus), Gorosaurus, Baragon, and Rodan come upon the asteroid. Rodan accidentally breaks open the pod, and King Ghidorah appears. A battle takes place, and most of the Earth monsters are defeated and forced underground. A massive asteroid then reaches the atmopshere. King Ghidorah absorbs it's energy and allows the asteroid to cause the K-T Extinction as he escapes into space. Travelling throughout the cosmos, King Ghidorah encounters a race of all-female aliens calling themselves Kilaakians. They brainwash King Ghidorah''. He is used as a weapon of mass destruction and his own legend grows across the universe. Then, in the year 1964, he faces against Godzilla, Mothra, Anguirus, and Rodan. King Ghidorah is driven away after a battle at Mount Aso. The Kilaakians try again the following year, this time by loaning him to the Xillens, who feign being assaulted by him. The Xillens convince the humans to borrow Godzilla, Mothra, Anguirus, and Rodan. The four monsters are then brought to the Xillen homeworld, Planet X. They manage to "drive away" King Ghidorah, but are brainwashed by the Xillens. The Xillens then use their five pawns on the Earth, but thanks to the quick-thinking of several humans, the mind-control is broken and Godzilla, Mothra, Anguirus, and Rodan fight King Ghidorah again, this time in Lake Myojin, and drive him into space. Three years pass without any alien invasion, until 1968 when the Kilaakians attack Earth and put up a large army of Earth monsters. The initial invasion goes well, but humanity later manages to reverse the brainwashing and they have the ex-pawns of the Kilaakians attack the Kilaakian base on Mount Fuji. King Ghidorah is unleashed by the Kilaaks to combat them, but in the epic battle, is almost killed and is driven away, barely with his life. The Kilaaks, meanwhile, are killed. King Ghidorah travels through space for a few years to recover, until he is ambushed by a vampire beast called Barugaron. Barugaron browbeats him badly, but thankfully, a miracle happens in the form of Gigan. He kills Barugaron, saving King Ghidorah's life. Thanking him, King Ghidorah vows to meet him again one day. One day, however, King Ghidorah follows several telepathic summons and follows them until he finds Grand King Ghidorah, Keizer Ghidorah, and DesGhidorah. Recognizing them as his own kind, he follows them into space.Time passes, and the Ghidorahs successfully attack and destroy the homeworld of the Mysterians. King Ghidorah proudly declares them the most powerful race in the univerce, but Grand King Ghidorah angrily berates him, saying that there are certain things that they, as a race, are not meant to cross. King Ghidorah sulks away. The Ghidorahs run rampant for six years, destoying the homelands of the Ultramen and Zone Fighter, and then, after completing the destruction of the Ultras' homeworld of M78, suddenly come under attack by the a trio of omnipotent being whom Grand King Ghidorah knows: Bagan, Zogu, and Gatazangoa. The battle is extremely brutal; Keizer and DesGhidorah are brutally murdered, and Grand King Ghidorah has to sacrifice himself in order to "kill" the trio. King Ghidorah, on his part, takes a blast meant for Grand King Ghidorah and floats unconscious across space. King Ghidorah eentually crashes on a desolate jungle-swamp world, Zethpurge, where he is captured by Ultraman Bellial and Alien Raybrad, and is tested on. A dragonfly-like being Megaguirus secretly raids their base when they take a break from studying him, and rescues Cretaceous King Ghidorah. Megaguirus tends to King Ghidorah for a while until she disappears one day. Cretaceous King Ghidorah then tracks her and finds out that Bellial and Raybrad have captured her and are torturing her into revealing his location. In the battle that follows, King Ghidorah kills Bellial and Raybrad. He also frees Megaguirus, and they fall in love. Several months later, they find an asteroid that has been cracked open. They later find it's occupant, a baby dragon, who instantly imprints on them. Calling it Mogu, which according to King Ghidorah, is a Ghidorah title meaning "heir to the empire", he and Megaguirus happily adopt it and raise him as their son. '''Once Upon A Time On Planet Earth' It is now 1983. Back on Earth, a race of alien apes dubbed the Third Planet From the Black Hole, or Simians, invade Earth with their own version of Godzilla, MechaGodzilla, and the help of the mad scientist Shinji Mafune, his associate Dr. Oniyama, and his own army of monsters. Also aiding them is a brainwashed monster, Titanosaurus. Unfortunately, Godzilla leads a massive army of monsters, and gets supported by the mechs and Jagers of the the Global Defence Force, or GDF. Their combined assault drives back the Simians invasion force, and manage to un-brainwash Titanosaurus, who helps counterattack the alien forces. The attack is so brutal that only MechaGodzilla survives the epic battle. Meanwhile, King Ghidorah, now living a happy life with Megaguirus and Mogu. However, King Ghidorah has become slightly disillusioned with his life and decides to return to Earth to gain his revenge on Godzilla. On the way, he encounters Gigan and his fiancee, Biollante, who have adopted an orphaned creature called Hafun, all of whom decide to join them on their journey. Upon landing on Earth, with Gigan's help, assembles an army of monsters - MechaGodzilla, SpaceGodzilla, Destoroyah, Megalon, Ebirah, Lightning Bug, Hedorah, Hokmuto, Femuto, Little Muto and Baby Muto, to gain vengance upon Godilla and the Earth. King Ghidorah proudly dubs their alliance the "Ghidorah Empire". Their first priority is with Godzilla, the Earth's monsters, and the GDF's mecha force under Kiryu. However, their plans are interruputed when Iyrs, leader of the so-called Gyaos Empire attacks Earth. Working together, King Ghidorah, Godzilla, Kiryu, unite their forces wage a nineteen-month campaign to defeat Iyrs. Iyrs is defeated and eventually gets killed by King Ghidorah, much to Godzilla's dismay, as he wanted Iyrs to simply leave and never return.The Ghidorah Empire retreats to Jupiter's moon, Europa, while Godzilla confides to Kiryu that he doesn't trust King Ghidorah and his growing suspicions of him. Meanwhile, a massive alien fleet of black monoliths begins massing at the Great Magellanic Cloud. Bagan, Zogu, and Gatanozoa having revealed to be mysteriously alive, and ask their hidden master on what will be their next move. Their master is revealed to be a massive, sentient, dark, comet, that says, "Nothing stands in our way now." Requiem From Beyond The Infinite ' It is now 1985. King Ghidorah is perfecting plans to backstab Godzilla under Europa's frozen surface. However, he falls into a coma that is nicknamed the "King's Coma". Before slipping into the coma, he decides to have his plans put in Gigan and Megaguirus' hands. He also proceeds to tell the story of the death of his family, something he never told anyone before. Bagan and Gatazanoa then launch their attack on Earth. The black monoliths actually contain a giant army of ''kaiju and the raid becomes a striking sucess. Earth's monsters, under Godzilla, hide underground, as does most of the GDF under Kiryu. While underground, MechaGodzilla 2 contacts the surviving Ultramen and Zone Fighter, who try to launch are counterattack, but are beaten and taken prisoner. Bagan then has a massive part of the armada stationed as a blockade at the Asteroid Belt. Gigan, having seen the blockade leads a counterattack on the armada, but this is brushed aside. The alien armada launches a raid on the Ghidorah Empire's Europa base, and manages to corral all of them in the base with the heat generators disabled. However, a massive spaceship is discovered by Ebirah under the base, and Gigan activates it. The ship turns out to be a sentient battleship, called Ghidrah-III, ''that was made by the Nebulans and was buired under Europa's surface when they retreated from Earth. It is also apparent that Gigan has a mental connection with the battleship. Gigan, SpaceGodzilla, Destoroyah. MechaGodzilla 1, and Orga decide to use ''Ghidrah-III, ''who is carrying the rest of the forces, sans King Ghidorah in a second attempt to break the blockade, which works. The six then make it to Earth and face off against Bagan and Gatanozoa. MechaGodzilla 2 rallies the Earth's monsters and they work together to beat the army. Bagan and Gatanozoa cowardly flee, only to meet their master, who kills them for their cowardice. The comet arrives on Earth, and destroys the moon. Covering the Earth in darkness, the dark comet makes landfall and is revealed to be Alien Empera. Empera then attacks the combined forces of the Ghidorah Empire, Godzilla's forces, and the GDF, and becomes sucessful, beating his opponents so brutally that most of them are driven to the point of death. However, back at Europa, King Ghidorah awakens from his coma and returns, revitalized and stronger than ever. He challenges Empera to a final duel, and manages to kill him. He also proceeds to help the survivors still standing to revive his allies and everyone else. King Ghidorah then confronts Godzilla one last time, and finally accepts him as a worthy foe. He then decides to leave Earth in peace for good as he and his allies depart for other worlds to dominate. Cast Quotes King Ghidorah * I am the last Ghidorah, and much of this universe will come to bury me. * [''To Megaguirus] Thank you so much for being in my life. Never have I known such happiness... not in ten thousand lifetimes, could I find such a thing. Megaguirus * You're such a handsome fellow, Ghidorah... * [To King Ghidorah] We are the only family you have... The only things you can lose. Gigan * [To King Ghidorah] It is with you where my loyalties lie. Nothing in this universe can change that. * It's not love I'm asking for. Just the fear. Mogu * You are my father, I am your son. That's all that needs be told. Godzilla * I tell you Kiryu, King Ghidorah cannot be trusted. He'll be back. * This world will not fall to you. * [last lines] I pray that fate will never make it so as to require him again. Power like him can only last once in an eternity Some creatures...die in the shade of the stars. Others live forever and change the universe. Kiryu * I will stand to the last. Alien Empera * Nothing stands in our way. * The Emporian shall not be denied victory. * We are the most powerful being in the universe. It is ours to command and control. Bagan * This planet is nothing but hollow ash to us. We are going to have plenty of enjoyment here. Gatanozoa * Behold... the Ultimate Ruler of Darkness! Grand King Ghidorah * Arrogant young fool! There are things that even we are not meant to cross. Keizer Ghidorah/Monster X * You are our brother. That is all that matters. DesGhidorah * Father is a creature of thought, dear brother. He's wiser than you know. Dialogue '''King Ghidorah: I have destroyed worlds since I was a mere child. Gigan: That explains why you're so good at dealing death, eh? King Ghidorah: '''Practice makes perfect, my friend. Especially if you've been dancing to that tune for all your life. '''King Ghidorah: Thank you so much for being in my life. Never have I known such happiness... not in ten thousand lifetimes. Megaguirus: King Ghidorah, my love... I have something very special to tell you... King Ghidorah: What is it? Megaguirus: I am pregnant. King Ghidorah: If that is true, then my father has truly blessed us. (laughs) Godzilla: '''That's it? You're just leaving? '''King Ghidorah: '''I've waited twelve years for revenge, Godzilla. I can wait a little longer. '''Godzilla: '''That's it? You're just leaving? '''King Ghidorah: '''I've waited twelve years for revenge, Godzilla. I can wait a little longer. '''Godzilla: Something's not right. Kiryu: What's wrong? Godzilla: King Ghidorah never goes away that easy. He'll be back. Kiryu: Well, I'll have M.O.G.U.E.R.A keep an eye on him. Maybe even Gipsy, as long as I can spare them. King Ghidorah: I will never return here, Godzilla. I swear upon it. My final war has been won. Godzilla: And how can we trust you on that? You haven't even beaten me. King Ghidorah: I do believe killing the "all-mighty" Emporian-seijin is proof enough that I've indeed surpassed you. After all, have I never lied on my promises to return? Godzilla: True. Say, You never did proclaim me truly worthy as your rival. King Ghidorah: And you'll never have to worry about it again, because you are. Production Development In early 2014, a few months into Master of Monsters' meteoric series run and unparalleled ratings, the fanbase began to cry out for a movie adaptation. Toho later announced that a movie adaptation had been greenlighted and set for release on 2015, with Tomoharu Katsumata as director. The original plan was a stockfootage recap movie, but Toho elected to not follow through with that as they thought that the fanbase would react negatively to it. Hiring the 'murderer's row' When the movie was greenlighted, it was also mentioned that for the movie itself, seven writers were hired for writing the story. It was revealed that they were Leiji Matsumoto, Hayao Miyazaki, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Katshuhiro Otomo, Rintaro, Izo Hashimoto, and Hideaki Anno - some of the anime world's most respected and talented writers and the creators of some of the most critically- acclaimed anime ever made. This highly-talented roster of writers were nicknamed the 'murderer's row' by the fans, though they were also nicknamed 'Seven Samurai' or 'The Magnificent Seven' by the production crew. The seven writers would later be aided by story writers and Godzilla veterans Shusuke Kaneko, Kazuki Omori, and Takao Okawara. Midway into the production, Toho also announced the scriptwriters of the English dub would be Steven Spielberg and George Lucas - themselves also Godzilla fans. One fan dryly commented on Spielberg and Lucas' participation, combined with the marquee roster of Japanese writing and story teams that, "The term 'murderer's row' is a gross understatement of the writing team's prescence. The correct term would be 'defence bench at the 1946 Nuremberg Trials'." Filming Much like the series, the film and the dub also utilized the use of emotion acting as supposed to standard voice acting styles. And also like the series, the animation was done after the voice recording sessions so that the actors wouldn't have to lip-synch with the animation. Most of the acting for the Japanese dub took place at Toho Studios' Studio Stage 9, where they had earlier done the voice work series and where Toho had filmed Terror of MechaGodzilla in 1975. Studio Stage 9 was quite small compared to the other stages, so the actors did have some trouble trying to move around during takes. However, the English cast had a less cramped workspace, doing their acting the spacious 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios in London. Animation Toho had Sunrise and TMS Entertainment do the animation, and also did the animation in 70mm, utilizing a mix of IMAX 70mm and Tohoscope. or the audio, they used Sensurround Mod-III. Katsushiro Otomo and Akira Toriyama did double-duty as storyboarders apart from their scriptwritng duties. Post-production Editing the movie fell into the hands of Takeshi Seiyama and Paul Hirsch. Seyama edited Akira ''while Hirsch edited ''Star Wars ''and ''The Empire Strikes Back. '' Release The world premiere was held on April 26, 2015 at Toho's Roppongi Hills Cinema, decked out in a Godzilla-style motif with most of the crew and Japanese dub cast attending. Steven Speilberg, and George Lucas also attended. The dub cast couldn't attend, however, being busy with last-minute recording sessions, and with the prep-up for the general release slated for a mere workweek away. They did however, send a wreath signed "''To our esteemed Japanese counterparts: sorry we couldn't attend; but we do hope that you show the world who the TRUE master of monsters really is. Signed Alastair Duncan, Maryke Hendrikse, Eric Stuart, Rachel Lillis, and the English dub cast." When the June 1 release date for the English dub arrived, the event was held in Odeon Leicester Square in London, to a red-carpet reception. In a somewhat of a Russian reversal, the Japanese dub cast also flew to London to meet their counterparts. At one point, Norio Wakamoto told the English cast via a translator, "Thanks for the wreath, but let's see who will be the true master of monsters after this." Reception Box Office The film broke Japanese box office records. it earned $500,000,000 in the US, $78,000,000 in Japan, and an additional $117,000,000 worldwide against a $46,000,000 budget. Critical response It holds an 95% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The site's consensus read: "King Ghidorah: Master of Monsters - The Motion Picture, headed by an electrifying voice cast and acting, amazing visuals, jaw-dropping sound, an amazing score, and epic grandeur on a Kurosawan scale, is a movie as big as it's titanic antihero and worth every dollar spent - or yen, depending on which side of the Pacific you're on." Many were impressed by the film's epic scale, fast pacing (that some thought ultimately compensated for it's 207-minute length), animation, acting, visuals, and themes. When FuNimation made a poll of the Top 100 Anime Movies, the film came out at number 12, one spot below Farewell To Space Battleship Yamato ''and one spot above ''The Disappearance of Harui Suzumiyra. '' Other Media Novelization A novelization written by Yoshiyuki Tomino hit the shelves on the same day the Japanese dub was released. To keep secrecy of the plot at a maximum, the release of the book was initially released only to the attendees of the premiere event at Roppongi Hills, with a wider release after the first screening. Fredrick L. Schodt translated for the English version. The same strategy for the Japanese book release was the same as the English version. The book has 392 pages and there are several minor story changes, such as the filling of backstories for the characters. Film Stats '''Budget: '$46,000,0000 Worldwide Box Office Gross: '$695,000,000 '''US Box Office Gross: '$500,000,000 'Japanese Box Office Gross: '$68,000,000 'International (other than US/Japan) Gross: '$117,000,000 'Rotten Tomatoes.com Rating: '''95% '''IMDB Rating: '''8.8/10 Theatrical Releases *Argentina *Australia *Austria *Belgium *Bolivia *Brazil *Bulgaria *Canada *Chile *China *Colombia *Croatia *Cyprus *Czech Republic *Denmark *Egypt *Estonia *Finland *France *Germany *Greece *Hong Kong *Hungary *Iceland *India *Indonesia *Israel *Italy *Japan *Korea *Latvia *Lebanon *Lithuania *Malaysia *Mexico *Netherlands *New Zealand *Norway *Panama *Peru *Philippines *Poland *Portugal *Puerto Rico *Romania *Russia *Serbia *Singapore *South Africa *Spain *Sweden *Switzerland *Taiwan *Thailand *Turkey *Ukraine *United Arab Emirates *United Kingdom *United States *Uruguay *Venezuela Accolades (Wins) Academy Awards * Best Picture * Best Director - Tomoharu Katsumata * Best Actor - Koichi Yamadera/Alastair Duncan (Shared) * Best Actress - Minori Chihara/Maryke Hendrikse (Shared) * Best Adapted Screenplay - Leiji Matsumoto, Hayao Miyazaki, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Katshuhiro Otomo, Izo Hashimoto, Rintaro, Shusuke Kaneko, Kazuki Omori, Toshio Masuda. Steven Spielberg, George Lucas (Shared) * Best Supporting Actor - Eric Stuart/Junpei Morita (Shared) * Best Supporting Actress - Rachel Lillis/Shikuza Itou (Shared) * Best Animated Feature * Best Visual Effects * Best Score - , Shin'ichiro Ikebe, Shoji Yamashiro, Shigeaki Saeguesa * Best Editing - Takeshi Seyama, Paul Hirsch * Best Cinematography - Yoshitami Kuroiwa, Peter Suschitzky * Best Foreign Language Film * Best Sound Cannes Film Festival * ''Palme D'Or * Prix d'interprétation féminine - ''Maryke Hendrikse/Minori Chihara (Shared) * ''Prix d'interprétation masculine - ''Alastair Duncan/Koichi Yamadera (Shared) * ''Prix de la mise en scène - Tomoharu Katsumata * Prix du scénario - Leiji Matsumoto, Hayao Miyazaki, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Katshuhiro Otomo, Izo Hashimoto, Rintaro, Shusuke Kaneko, Kazuki Omori, Toshio Masuda. Steven Spielberg, George Lucas (Shared) Venice Film Festival * Gold Lion * Silver Lion - Tomoharu Katsumata * Volpi Cup - Koichi Yamadera/Alastair Duncan, Minori Chihara/Maryke Hendrikse (Shared) * Marcello Mastroianni Award - Eric Stuart/Shikuza Itou (Shared) * Special Lion - Rachel Lillis/Shikuza Itou (Shared) Other Information 'Release Dates: ' * April 26, 2015 (Japan) * June 1, 2015 (US) '''Cinematography: '''Yoshitami Kuroiwa, Peter Suschitzky '''Edited by: '''Takeshi Seyama, Paul Hirsch '''Character/Kaiju Designs: Hiroyuki Kitazume, Matt Frank, Matt Allsop Mecha Designs: Gainax, Yoshinori Sayama, Matt Frank, Yutaka Izubuchi, Studio Nue, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Kunio Okawara Art Director: '''Shigemi Ikeda '''Storyboards: '''Akira Toriyama, Katsushiro Otomo '''Story: Kazuki Omori, Shusuke Kaneko Video Release Criterion Collection '''(2015) * '''Region: Region 1 * Video Type: Blu-ray * Language: 'Japanese, English * '''Format: '''70mm, Anamorphic, Widescreen, NTSC, Color, Subtitled * Other Features: ** 2.20:1 aspect ratio ** Sensurround-III audio track for both dubs ** Audio commentary by the voice actors for the Ghidorah Empire of English and Japanese dub casts ** Audio commentary featuring the scriptwriters of both dubs ** ''Trio of Terror, a subtitled interview of Koichi Yamadera, Minori Chihara, and Junpei Morita where they discuss about the movie ** 41-minute documentary on the making of the movie ** Tomino and Masuda, ''a 44-minute featurette slideshow with Toshio Masuda and Yoshiyuki Tomino with regards to their contributions on the movie, mainly mecha designs and battle scenes ** Heineken commercials made on-set ** Storyboard gallery ** Theatrical trailers and teaser trailers ** A booklet featuring a essays by Gareth Edwards and Tim Burton, an interview with Tomoharu Katsumata by Stuart Gailbraith IV, interviews and liner notes by Shoji Yamashiro, Shin'ichiro Ikebe, Shigeaki Saegusa, and autographed storyboard sketches by Akira Toriyama ** Steven Speilberg's appreciation video ** ''The History of Anime on Film, ''a 74-minute documentary by Akira Toriyama and Katsushiro Otomo ** A 30-minute documentary on the making of the series ** A 35-minute video piece reconstructing the movie using Akira Toriyama and Katsushiro Otomo's storyboards, called ''Storyboards of The King of Terror ** Video interview with the English dub voice actors Trivia *The film's camera work is mainly based on Sergio Leone and Akira Kurosawa's cinematography styles - Leone's style of extreme close-ups prior to fight scenes and Kurosawa's style of wide-scale shots and frequent use of movement to express the tone and what the characters feel during the non-action scenes. *The final battle between King Ghidorah and Alien Empera is completely muted, with all ambient sound removed and the scene played over the music, until King Ghidorah deals the final blow. This is an Akira Kurosawa tribute, as Kurosawa had done the same thing for his film Ran ''during one scene which involved two armies setting fire to a castle while the all ambient sound is muted and the soundtrack is played over the scene. *Before the film first rolled at the theater, Akira Tarakada (the narrator of the movie and the series) walked in front of the audience, and gave the following speech: ''" 'Monsters are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. That is their tragedy.' Those words were spoken by my good friend, the late director Ishiro Honda. When Mr. Honda said those very words, it was a testament to what he wanted to see in monsters. Not your typical, run-of-the-mill, mindless monsters, but creatures that, much like us, have their own feelings, hopes, dreams, plans, desires and schemes. This film was made not only with the hope of entertaining you and many others the world over, but to also to show all present- and all who shall see - precisely what these things really are. Not a bunch of mindless beasts of burden, but beings that, in a sense of all things considered, are not too different from you and I. The film runs for o''ne hundred-and sixty-seven minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention, and please do enjoy the film."'' **When the film made it's US debut on June 1, at Odeon Leicester Square, Patrick Stewart (Tarakada's counterpart for the English dub) said a slightly edited speech: " 'Monsters are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. That is their tragedy.' Those words were spoken by the late, great, director Ishiro Honda in 1956 when filming the classic movie Rodan. When Mr. Honda said those very words, it was a testament to what he wanted to see in his brainchildren. Not your typical, run-of-the-mill, mindless monsters, aliens, cyborgs, and such, but creatures that, much like us, have their own feelings, hopes, dreams, plans, desires and schemes. This film was made not only with the hope of entertaining you and many others the world over, but to also to show all present - and all who shall see - precisely what these creatures really are. Not a bunch of mindless beasts of burden, but beings that, in a sense of all things considered, are not too different from you and me. This film runs for his film runs for one hundred-and sixty-seven minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention, and please do enjoy the film." *According to the crew, "[Katsumata-san] wanted to make a film as visually satisfying as ''Akira, but also with the air of an epic and the power of Ran and Kagemusha combined''." * The film's ''faux ''title called was ''The 70mm Gamble ''According to Kazuki Omori, it was Norio Wakamoto, (SpaceGodzilla's Japanese dub voice actor) who came up with it, as an apparent satirical reference to the movie being in 70mm and it being a rather expensive venture. * Apart from being the longest, most expensive, and highest-grossing anime film in history, the film has the record for most Oscars won, at 14. ** This also was the first Godzilla movie to win Oscars. *'King Ghidorah's last words in the film, which are "I am King Ghidorah." according to Shusuke Kaneko, are a homage to the last words spoken in the landmark 1988 anime film Akira, ''which are "''I am Tetsuo." Interestingly, most critics tend compare this movie to Akira. *Several characters from the TV series are given bigger roles, others had theirs downgraded. *Due to the OVAs being released after the movie, the characters from the OVAs are not featured. * There is an extremely hot and bitter debate among fans over which is better between the movie and the series. * A title card that was shown before the main credits reads "In honor of Tomoyuki Tanaka, Ishiro Honda, Ejii Tsuburaya, Akira Ifukube, Merrian C. Cooper, Edgar Wallace, Ray Harryhausen, and Willis O' Brien - the true masters of monsters." * To aid theaters that couldn't show the film in 70mm, Universal and Paramount bought several 70mm film projectors and distributed it to the main theaters in the US, Japan, and Europe where the film was shown. For the other territories, the film was shown with LCD projectors. * As inspiration, the scriptwriters watched movies that the producers thought would help them get inspired on catching the epic air the film needed. These films were the original 1954 Godzilla movie, Terror of MechaGodzilla, The Return of Godzilla; ''Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Ran and Kagemusha;'' Katsuhiro Otomo's ''Akira; Tomoharu Katsumata's'' Final Yamato and[[wikipedia:Arcadia_of_My_Youth| ''My Youth In Arcadia]]; Toshio Masuda's Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato ''and ''Tora! Tora! Tora!; Yoshiyuki Tomino's Metal Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack ''and Mobile Suit Gundam F91; Haruki Kadokawa's ''Heaven and Earth; Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey; Star Trek: The Motion Picture ''and ''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments; the original Star Wars ''trilogy; Sergio Leone's ''Dollars Trilogy ''and Once Upon A Time In The West;'' and Sergei Bondarchuk's Waterloo and War and Peace. Category:Movies Category:Kaiju Films